The Thrasher
by thementalist2
Summary: A serial killer murders a girl and leaves her body in her bathtub. The BAU believes that this crime is the work of The Thrasher. But someone is obsessed with the profilers and will do anything to get to someone special. Even if it means stalking the team and kidnapping two of its members... I don't own Criminal Minds, CBS has that pleasure.
1. New Victim

He watched her go into the restaurant.

She was a really good-looking woman, and he wished that she could be his forever. Her long dark brown hair showed off her face very well. She looked incredibly skinny in those dress pants and sweaters that she always wore. But unfortunately, there were a few things that were preventing him from getting to her. The first thing on the list was that stupid boss of hers. He seemed a bit too overprotective over his agent. Then there was her friends.

_Or were they more like her family?_ the man thought. This group of people seemed more like they were a family than co-workers.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo of the brown-haired woman. He looked at the picture for a minute, then smiled sadistically.

_You will be mine soon enough,_ he thought. _And then, I will make sure your little friends pay for what they did to me. Or, maybe I can get ahold of all of you._

He pulled out his high-tech camera and snapped some pictures, making sure that they weren't watching him. After completing his task, he started the car and drove back to his house, which was two stories high and had a huge swimming pool in the backyard.

Once he stepped inside his house, he immediately took off his jacket and mask and threw them on his large leather sofa. He then headed towards a slightly cluttered room at the back of the house. It didn't have any windows, and the only light source available was the red light hanging from the ceiling.

He shut and locked the door behind him. Even though he lived alone, he still didn't want anyone to see his master plans. And his plans were huge. He had been organizing and planning this idea for almost a year now. Once he had uploaded all the recent pictures he had taken outside the restaurant to the printer, he made his "photo-finishing solution." It was a clear liquid used to bring out details in the pictures he took.

A few minutes later, the pictures had all been printed off, and he put them in the liquid, one-by-one. The pictures were perfect with not a trace of blurriness. He hung them up on a clothesline to dry, and while they dried, he admired his handiwork.

He smiled, knowing that the day that he could finally get his revenge on these four men and three women was finally going to happen. All those months of planning and preparing would finally come true.

**~BAU~**

"I can't believe Hotch is actually late for work once," SSA Derek Morgan said to his best friend, Doctor Spencer Reid.

"He must be having a bad day," Reid responded.

"Hotch doesn't have bad days."

"I'll bet you 20 dollars that his car broke down and he didn't have time to grab his coffee."

Agents Jennifer "JJ" Jareau and Emily Prentiss walked into the bullpen, carrying six coffees.

"Hello, guys, what's new?" JJ asked, handing each of her friends a drink.

"Well, first of all, thanks for the coffee, I really needed some," Morgan responded. "And second, Reid and I just made a bet on whether or not Hotch is having a bad day."

"What makes you say that?" Emily asked. "And second, where is Rossi?"

"Coming," a voice said from his office. Rossi walked over to the group and took one of the coffees. "What did I miss?"

"Hotch was late this morning, and Reid just bet me 20 dollars that the car broke down on the way here," Morgan responded.

"And I want to play a prank on him," JJ said, revealing several small pink-coated tablets.

"JJ, he will not be happy," Reid said, knowing what the tablets were.

"It's just a joke."

Rossi took two of the tablets and crushed them into a powder with the end of his Glock 17.

JJ stirred the powder into the remaining coffee, and the team being laughing their heads off. Several other agents from another team wondered what was so funny, so Emily took the box of tablets and showed it to them.

They burst out laughing as well, but flushed red in embarrassment once they saw Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner walk out of his office.

"Conference room, we have a case," Hotch said, taking the coffee that Morgan handed him.

The team let out giggles on the way to the room and had a hard time keeping themselves together as they read the latest case file and watched their boss drink the coffee.

"Excuse me a minute," Morgan said, running out of the room. "Fill me in when I come back."

Hotch pulled up photos of the latest victims.

"Katie Rogers, 33 years old was found dead in her apartment earlier this morning. Her throat was slit, and bled out in a matter of minutes. The second victim was Carolyn Rogers, her sister. She was found in her apartment bathtub, and it appears that she drowned. Both sisters shared a love for Criminal Justice, and wanted to be detectives. They recently were laid off due to budget cuts," Hotch said, but suddenly began to feel sick.

"Well, from looking at the case file, I'd say that this is indeed the work of the Thrasher," Rossi said. "His M.O. is slashing his victims' throats or drowning them in a pool or bathtub. And Hotch, are you ok?"

Rossi noticed that Hotch was looking like he was in pain.

Morgan walked in, embarrassed that he had to leave.

"Sorry, guys, personal matter. What did I miss?" Morgan asked.

"It looks like our latest victim has been killed by The Thrasher. The serial killer who slashes his victims' throats or drowns them," Rossi said.

Without another word, Hotch ran out of the conference room and towards the bathroom.

"What's up with Hotch?" Rossi asked.

JJ showed him the box of tablets.

"Oh right," he said, chuckling.

Hotch walked out of the bathroom like nothing happened and went right back to focusing on the case.

"Wheels up in 20," he said.

**~Outside the BAU~**

He waited for her to come out of the BAU. It had been a half hour since she gone into work, and he wanted to see her again before he went home and drew up another map plan on his computer.

After a few more minutes' wait, he saw her walk out. However, that boss of hers was walking almost directly beside her. _Are they dating? _he thought. _Hopefully not._

The man pulled out his camera and snapped a few more pictures before rolling up the driver's side window. He saw her hand the car keys to her boss.

His anger returned. He wanted the woman to be with him, not screwing around with her boss.

_Maybe I'll just take you and your little boyfriend with me,_ he thought. _If I take you where I want to be right now, then no one will ever find you. _

He smiled and laughed to himself. He had just formed part two of his master plan. But he would need some help later on, so he dialed his best friend.

"Hey, man, what's new?" the friend asked.

"I think I just found my soul mate. But I think she's involved with her boss. And I want to figure out a way to get her to love me. I plan to take her somewhere far away from here. Will you help me?" the man replied.

"Sure, bro, just call me on my cell when you need to. I have to go, my wife's waiting. Bye."

"Bye."

After hanging up the phone, he hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand in excitement. His best friend had just agreed to help him with his genius plan. But first he had to make a phone call and get some things out of the way.

Once he was stopped at a red light, he opened up his contacts list and looked through all the names that he had.

After finding the name, he put the phone up to his ear and waited for someone to pick up.

Hotch was sitting in his seat, waiting for the plane to take off. He was going over the case file when he suddenly heard his phone ring.

"Who would be calling me now?" he muttered to himself as he answered the call. "Agent Hotchner speaking."

"Well, well, well, what a nice surprise," a cold, taunting voice responded.

"Who is this?" Hotch snapped.

"You don't know my name, but you will soon enough. We will meet, and I will hear you scream my name over and over again just before you die."

"If this is a prank, hang up this instant."

"It's not a prank, Aaron."

"Then what do you want?"

"Revenge for what you did to me years ago. The time is right for revenge, and I can't wait to see you die right before my eyes."

The line went dead and Hotch just rolled his eyes.

"Prank call," he said, allowing sleep to take over him.

He smiled once he hung up on Hotch. The boss had no idea who had called him, and he wouldn't know until he met his demise. But the BAU needed to suffer for what they had done. The man had lost his wife and his parents to the FBI. His wife had been killed by Agent Morgan after she took a bullet to the shoulder. Complications arose, and she developed a life-threatening infection which took over her liver and killed her within three days. His parents tried to save his life after he was trapped in his burning apartment. He was believed to be the unsub in one of the BAU's child abduction cases. He had planned to burn his house down to prevent the FBI from arresting him. His mother and father ended up becoming trapped on the second floor and were burnt to death. He ended up escaping out the bedroom window and watching his parents die right in front of his eyes.

"You will pay, Agent Morgan," the man said to himself. "You will pay for your mistakes. And so will Agent Rossi, since he's the one who said that I was the unsub."

He smiled to himself, and pulled up the website that listed all incoming flights. The BAU would be landing in one hour, and everything that he dreamed of doing was finally going to happen.

**~Charleston, SC~**

An hour later, Hotch and his team landed in Charleston, South Carolina. Katie Rogers's apartment was located on the outskirts of the city.

Hotch drove to the crime scene and found the local police and CSIs searching for evidence.

"Detective Rodriguez?" the Unit Chief asked.

A tall man with light brown hair turned to face the group once he heard his name being called.

"Yes, that's me. You must be the BAU," the detective responded.

"I'm SSA Hotchner, and this is SSA Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, and Doctor Reid. We're investigating Katie's death and we think she may be the victim of a serial killer we're chasing."

"Yes, of course. Come in."

The team followed the detective into the bathroom. Katie's body was surrounded by a large pool of blood.

Reid walked over to the body and began looking at the slice on the throat.

"Looks like the carotid artery was slashed by a serrated knife, and judging by how deep the slice is, I would have to say that the unsub is between 5'9" and 5'10."

"Detective Rodriguez, did the neighbors hear anything or see anyone unusual?" Rossi asked.

"I was interviewing Mrs. Gonzalez earlier, and she said that she saw a man in all black enter the house at around 6 this morning. She doesn't how he got in, but she heard Katie screaming and called the cops after entering the house and finding Katie's body," the detective said.

"Thank you, detective. Anything else?"

"No, that's all she told me. And I just remembered something. My boss needed to speak to me about the case, and I was supposed to call her back five minutes ago. Do you mind if I step outside and call her?"

"I don't mind."

The detective stepped outside and pulled out his phone, walking towards the Medical Examiner's van.

The man sat in his car, watching the crime scene from halfway down the block. His dark brown hair seemed lighter when the sun was shining on it. He pulled out his camera and snapped some pictures of Rossi and Hotch walking out of the house. They were looking for Detective Rodriguez, who had been gone for almost 15 minutes.

His phone buzzed, and he saw that his best friend had texted him.

**~Hey bro, how's the plan coming along? Will I be needed anytime soon?~ **

The man didn't waste any time at all writing back.

**^Soon, my friend. Very soon. I need to prepare a few things for our guests' arrival. Should be ready within the next two days.^ **

**~Alright, man, talk to you in a couple of days.~**

**^Will do.^ **

20 minutes later, Detective Rodriguez still hadn't returned back to the crime scene. But his partner, Julie Michaels, had just returned from making a phone call to Katie's parents.

"Detective Michaels?" Rossi asked.

"Yes?" she responded, putting her phone away.

"We're looking for your partner, Detective Rodriguez. He went to make a phone call to your boss, but hasn't returned. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't. I was making a call to the victim's parents, who said that they would be at the station in fifteen minutes. And I was just leaving, but do you want to talk to the parents?"

"Sure, I can do that."

Hotch walked out a minute later.

"The coroner is getting ready to take the body back to the morgue," he said, noticing that Rossi was getting ready to leave. "Where are you going?"

"To the station. Detective Michaels asked me if I wanted to talk to Katie's parents. Want to come?" Rossi responded.

"Sure, I'll let the team now," Hotch said, walking back to the bathroom.

Once inside, he found Reid, Prentiss, and JJ looking at the body.

"Rossi and I are going to the station to talk to the victim's parents, so we will all meet up at the hotel later," Hotch said.

"Ok, boss," the three profilers responded.

Hotch walked out to the living room to meet up with Rossi and Detective Michaels.

**~Unknown Location~**

Rodriguez was cold and scared. He remembered talking to his boss, when he felt someone's presence behind him and had a cloth clamped over his mouth.

He suddenly heard someone's voice, but didn't hear anyone coming. He thought that he was hallucinating.

"Detective Rodriguez, welcome to your new home," the voice said. "I hope you'll find this place very exciting, because we're going to have so much fun together. I hope your team will have enough money to pay for your ransom, otherwise, you're going to end up like Katie Rogers."

**TBC…**

***What's going to happen to Detective Rodriguez? Next chapter will be up in a couple of days.* **


	2. Case Developements

Within ten minutes, Rossi and Hotch were sitting in the interrogation room, across the way from Natalie and Greg Rogers, Katie's parents. Natalie looked extremely worried, and her expression changed to a look of depression.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rogers? I'm Aaron Hotchner with the FBI, and I have some unfortunate news about your daughter, Katie," Hotch said.

"I've been trying to get ahold of her for a week, but I knew that she was busy with friends all week, and I've gotten this feeling that something's wrong," Greg responded.

"I'm very sorry, but Katie's body was found earlier this morning in her apartment. Her throat was slit."

Natalie broke down in sobs, knowing that both of her children were dead.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. We will do everything we can to find the person who did this."

**~OUTSIDE THE CHARLESTON PD~**

The man sat in a dark car, partially hidden behind some bushes. He put his earpiece in, and listened to Hotch and Rossi speak to Katie's parents. The unsub smiled sadistically, knowing that it would be less than 48 hours until his guests arrived. He decided that he should get everything ready now instead of later. He drove to the hardware store and grabbed a few things for step one of his plan. Step two was to make sure his private plane was working properly.

Once he arrived at his house, he set the necessary items on the kitchen counter next to his completed grocery list. He was going to need some extra food for when his guests arrived.

He pulled out his cell phone, turned off the GPS, and texted his best friend.

**~Bro, can you drive to the airport and check to make sure that my private plane is working properly? I will need you to fly it, and we've got a long journey ahead of us.~**

**^On my way now. But where are you planning on taking this thing?^**

**~It's a surprise. No one will ever find them there. I'll tell you once I get ahold of them.~**

**^Alright, be at the airport in ten.^**

Once his friend had replied to the text, he turned his phone off and walked over to his laptop. He pulled up Internet Explorer and began looking at empty, abandoned, disclosed location warehouses, making sure that no one was tracking his searches…

**~UNKNOWN LOCATION~**

Rodriguez was feeling lonely. It had been several hours since his captor had visited him and brought him something to eat.

He suddenly heard a voice, but there wasn't anyone coming into the room.

"You're going to have a nice little chat with your friends," the voice said. "I do only hope that they will cooperate and fulfill my demands."

Rodriguez heard the dial tone and then his partner's voice.

"Andy? Where are you, we're all worried-" Julie began, but was interrupted by the captor.

"Sorry, Ms. Michaels, but Andy is unavailable to come to the phone right now."

**~CONFERENCE ROOM, 10 MINUTES AGO~**

Detective Michaels headed into the conference room to talk with Rossi, Hotch, and her two co-workers, Detective Thompson and Detective Goldberg.

Leonard Thompson had just returned from his coffee break, and Darren Goldberg was on the phone with the Medical Examiner, Doctor Jessica Newton.

"Detective Goldberg, any word from Jessica?" Julie asked, taking a seat beside the two profilers.

"She's just finishing up the autopsy now, but has found a dark brown hair on her chest," Darren replied.

Jessica's voice came over the line.

"Julie, Leonard, Darren, you guys need to come down here," she said.

**~MORGUE~**

The three detectives stepped into the morgue to find Jessica examining the victim's lungs, which were lying on a scale.

"The cause of death was definitely exsanguination due to the carotid artery being cut, but I found something quite interesting. I weighed the lungs since they seemed heavy when I lifted them out of her chest. And I found that they were a bit overweight," Jessica said.

"Did she have a massive tumor?" Detective Thompson asked.

"No, I actually found a large amount of water inside the lungs, which made me think that the cause of death was drowning. But the amount of water wasn't enough to cause Katie to drown."

"But we didn't find the tub full of water. In fact, it was completely dry when we were examining the crime scene."

"Which makes me think that the killer either tried to drown her someplace else or did it at her house, then sent the water down the drain."

"Anything on the dark brown hair that you found on the victim's chest?"

"It's definitely human, but I can't run a DNA scan. I sent it to the lab for further testing."

**~CONFERENCE ROOM, PRESENT DAY~**

Julie felt her phone ring, and saw that Andy's number was flashing across the screen. She ran into the conference room and told Rossi and Hotch who was calling so that the profilers could talk to him too.

"Andy? Where are you, we're all worried-" she began, but was suddenly interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Sorry, Ms. Michaels, but Andy is unavailable to come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?" the voice asked.

Hotch immediately dialed his technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, and told her to trace the incoming call.

"Where is he?" Detective Michaels demanded.

"He's very close, but far enough away that you won't be able to find him. Don't bother tracing this call because it's being done on a burner phone. Do you want to say hello?"

"Yes, of course! Let me talk to him."

She heard her partner's voice, and was relieved to know that he was still alive.

"Julie? Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm ok, but are you alright?" she responded.

"Yes, I've just been tied to a chair. But I think my captor wants to speak to you again."

The cold, taunting voice was on the line once again.

"See, Ms. Michaels? He does care about you. And you would do anything for him, because you love him, right?"

"No I don't! But I care about him, because he's my partner and friend. I would do anything to get him back."

"Then if you want him back in one piece, then you will do as I say."

"What do you want?"

"First of all, you will not speak that tone of voice with me. You must learn that I do the demanding and you do the obeying. But anyway, back to the point. I want 750,000 dollars in cash. You will have 46 hours from the moment I hang up this phone to get the money. Once the time is up, I will call you with the directions. You will come alone, with no backup and no weapons. You obey everything I just told you and Andy will be returned alive, unharmed. But if you fail to show up or come with back up, then he will die. Understood?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good."

The line went dead, and Julie fainted on the floor. Rossi immediately ran over to her and made sure that she didn't have a concussion or serious head injury.

Hotch felt his phone buzz, and he immediately answered the call.

"Garcia, what do you have for me?" he asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but I couldn't trace it. The call kept bouncing off several servers that changed every ten seconds. Sorry," she said disappointedly.

"That's fine, Garcia. Thanks for your hard work."

"You're welcome, sir. Garcia out."

She ended the call.

Hotch walked over to Rossi, who was helping Julie sit up.

"What...what happened?" she asked.

"You passed out after answering a phone call," Rossi said.

"Oh yes, now I remember. My partner's been kidnapped, and I just got a call from his abductor. He or she wants 750,000 dollars in the next 46 hours or Andy's dead."

"Did you recognize the voice?"

"No, I didn't."

**~THE UNSUB'S HOUSE~**

The man pulled out a gas mask, not wanting to breathe in the sweet, fast-acting toxic chemical. He pulled out two brand new white washcloths and soaked each cloth in the liquid. Two sets of zip-ties were ready to tie anything together.

He looked at his watch for the umpteenth time that day. Forty-five hours until the plan would happen. It seemed so far away, but he knew that it would come quickly. Sleep, however, would not, because he was too excited about his plan.

He pulled out a wine cork and covered the opening of the bottle containing the sweet-smelling chemical. A large roll of duct tape was laid beside the zip ties. Two more white washcloths were set down on the counter.

A buzzing sound was heard, and the man realized that his friend had just texted him. He had forgotten to turn his phone back on after he had talked with his friend the last time.

**^The plane's working perfectly. It's ready to go whenever you need it.^ **

**~Good, because I have the step one supplies laid out on my counter. I need step two items, which are food and water.~ **

**^Want me to get the things since you'll look incredibly suspicious wearing your mask in public? Since no one can know where you are now.^ **

**~Thanks, bro, I didn't realize that. I would like that a lot. Let me text you a picture of the list. Everything I need is on it.~**

The man snapped a picture of the list and sent it to his friend. A reply was sent instantly.

**^You're welcome, and thanks, and I will come over in about 45 minutes to drop everything off. I need to grab a few things for myself as well.^**

**~Sure thing, come over anytime you want.~ **

He smiled sadistically. Two days could not come fast enough.

**TBC…**

***Will Julie obey this psychopath? Next chapter will be up soon.* **


	3. Shocking Reveal

***This chapter will be explaining the past, as to why the unsub wants revenge on the BAU. His identity is also revealed. It will be a shocker!* **

"I will kill that creep!" Julie screamed. She picked up her coffee mug and threw it at the wall as hard as she could. The mug shattered into pieces, which was exactly how she was feeling right now. When she heard that taunting voice speak, her heart had shattered into millions of pieces. She was extremely upset that she had let her partner out of her sight. She should have gone outside with him when he called the boss, and now he was gone. She was worried for his safety because she had been developing feelings for him, but never found the chance to tell him. She had been his partner for four years and they were more like best friends.

Rossi heard Detective Michaels screaming and immediately ran into the conference room.

"Julie, stop! You've hit your head a bit, and you need to sit down. I don't want you to further injure yourself," the profiler said, trying to lead her over to a chair.

"How can you even say something like that? I read your article on how angry and depressed you were after your wife was kidnapped. You had collapsed from stress, and you didn't calm down! How can you be telling me to sit down, when my partner is out there somewhere being held hostage by some sick psychopath. I love him, and I want him home in one piece!" Julie said.

"Julie, I know you're upset, but you're going to hurt yourself even more. We are going to catch the person who did this and make them pay."

He was finally able to calm Julie down, but had a flashback to when his wife was abducted two years ago. It had been a very difficult time for him especially since the kidnapper abused his wife right in front of him and he couldn't do anything to stop it from happening…

**~TWO YEARS AGO~**

**~ROSSI RESIDENCE~**

Erin Strauss-Rossi arrived home from an exhausting day at the BAU. She was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home. She just wanted to take a bath and had a quiet dinner with her husband.

"Dave, I'm home," she said to a seemingly empty house. But then she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

"I missed you, Erin," he responded. He kissed her, and planned to spend some alone time with her after dinner.

"Dinner will be in ten, you can go relax until then."

He walked down the hall to the massive kitchen and checked on the food.

In the living room, Erin had just taken off her jacket and shoes. She was looking forward to dozing off until dinner because she had been in meetings all day, and they constantly bored her and wore her out. She heard a creak and thought that it was just Rossi stepping on a weak spot in the floor. But unfortunately, she felt someone's presence behind her. She prepared to call out to her husband, when she suddenly had a hand clamped over her mouth and something cold pressed into her back.

"Scream for your husband, and you die," the taunting voice responded.

Erin's breathing picked up in a panic, worried that this man might kill her. He put the gun back into his holster.

"Erin, do you want garlic bread with your pasta?" she heard Rossi shout from the kitchen.

"No talking," the voice whispered in her ear.

Erin stayed silent, and only hoped that Rossi would come soon.

"Erin?" he asked.

She couldn't control herself any longer, and let out a scream. But unfortunately, it was muffled. He pulled out the gun once again.

The weapon was pressed even more into her back, and she winced in pain.

Rossi heard the scream and immediately ran out of the kitchen. He knew that scream meant that she was in trouble.

He was horrified to find his wife standing in front of a masked man, who had his hand tightly clamped over her mouth, and a gun pointed at him. The person wore a mask over their face.

"Who are you?" Rossi asked, reaching for his weapon.

"I wouldn't do that when I have your wife as a hostage. Put the gun down," the man instructed.

Rossi set his weapon down on the couch and put his hands in the air.

"Now, you're going to do anything I tell you to do, because we wouldn't want this beautiful woman to get hurt, would we?"

"No," Rossi answered.

She was sad that her husband could only watch and do nothing because the gun was still being pointed at him.

"You sick, twisted creep! Let her go, she has nothing to do with this!" Rossi said, his fingers only inches away from his gun.

"You pick up that gun, and I will make sure that you will never see your wife again," the unsub threatened.

Rossi moved away from the weapon, and noticed that the front door was open. The man began to drag Erin out of the house, and Rossi immediately began to chase after her, but was stopped because the man had pointed the gun at his chest.

"If you even think about trying to follow us, or reporting anything to your team members, then I will kill your wife. Maybe I'll even let you and your friends watch."

Rossi watched in horror as Erin was handcuffed and thrown into the backseat of a dark car with no license plate. The vehicle sped off into the night.

The next morning, Rossi wasn't sure about how he was going to have to face his co-workers. He had cried himself to sleep the night before, missing Erin and worried for her safety. He had woken up in tears, knowing that he couldn't have done anything to help his wife. Grabbing his credentials and weapon, he drove himself to work with a poker face. His eyes were still a bit red from crying, but he managed to escape to his office before any of the team could have asked what was wrong.

Until Hotch walked into the office several hours later to talk to him about the case.

"Rossi, are you alright? You seemed a bit upset this morning when you came in. The team's a little concerned about you and Erin. She hasn't shown up to work yet, has she?" Hotch asked.

"No, she hasn't, because she ended up catching a cold before bed last night. I guess she must have forgotten to call in sick," Rossi lied, doing his best to try and keep a straight face.

"Rossi, something's bothering you. You're talking fast, and you're sweating, which tells me that you're nervous. What's going on?"

"I can't tell you. Not here, at least. Can we go outside?"

"Sure."

Once they were in the parking lot, far enough away from the team, Rossi told Hotch what was really going on.

"Erin was abducted last night at eight. I was making dinner and I hear this muffled scream, and then there was this masked guy using her as a hostage. He told me that if I tried to follow him or told anyone at work that they would kill her."

"I will kill this creep, no matter what I must do. Erin is your wife, my boss, and I care about her."

Hotch felt his phone buzz, and he saw that it was a text from Garcia. She was telling him that she had just received something, but that only he and Rossi could see it.

The two profilers headed into Garcia's office, and immediately, the screen was focused on a dark room. A muffled scream was heard, and the camera showed a blond woman, bound and gagged to a bed. Her wrists and ankles were tied to the bedposts.

Rossi realized that the woman tied to the bed was none other than his wife, who started screaming even more. His hands clenched into fists once he saw what Erin looked like at the moment.

A man walked into the room. He still wore the mask over his face, making it impossible for Rossi or Hotch to identify him. He walked over to Erin, and she tried to move away, but the man grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

The tape was removed and Erin began screaming.

"NO, PLEASE, STOP!" she shouted.

Rossi was enraged, and wanted to murder the creep onsite with his bare hands.

She began crying, and the man slapped her in the face several times.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE PATHETIC, AND WE WILL SEE HOW MUCH YOUR HUSBAND WILL LOVE YOU AFTER I'M DONE WITH YOU," the man said.

"Dave, please find me," she begged.

Rossi's face turned dark red and Hotch walked out of the room, unable to see any more.

The man moved away from Erin, and looked right into the camera.

"You will never see your beloved wife again," he said. "You will pay for what you did to me. You think that I was the unsub in your cases? I was never him. I don't even know his name. But I know him. You'll never find him. Because of your mistakes, your beautiful wife will suffer."

The screens went dark, and Rossi was unable to hold the tears back. He let them fall, knowing that he couldn't have done anything to prevent Erin from being abducted.

**~PRESENT DAY~**

**~THE UNSUB'S HOUSE~**

He prepared to make his move. Grabbing the two cloths soaked in chloroform, the zip-ties, and duct tape, he made his way out to his car and prepared to arrive at the Charleston PD and grab his victims. He didn't want to wait two days to grab them- he decided to complete his master plan now instead of later.

**~Outside the PD~**

Hotch was the last person on his team to arrive back at the station after a brief lunch break. But when he stepped out of the car, he suddenly began to feel very dizzy. He thought that he had possibly gotten out of his car too fast, but he noticed that his vision began to spin out of control. He remembered Detective Goldberg sitting across the table from him at lunch, and he had been acting strange.

Hotch found that he was having trouble standing, and had to grab onto the car door to prevent himself from collapsing on the ground. He saw someone walking towards him, but with his rapidly darkening vision, he was unsure who the figure was.

"Agent Hotchner, are you alright? Your vision seems to be off," the person said, flashing a sadistic smile.

Hotch noticed that the sunlight was reflecting off something that the person was wearing. He thought the object might be a badge.

"I'm sorry that you have no chance to say goodbye to your team," the person said. "I've always been the one that your team's been searching for."

"No," Hotch mumbled. "It can't be."

"Yes," he replied. "I am The Thrasher. And you're never going to make it back to Quantico alive. And the reason why you don't feel good is because you've been drugged with a slow-acting sedative. You're never going to make it back to Quantico alive."

Before Hotch could process what was happening, he suddenly felt a cloth being clamped over his mouth. A sweet-smelling liquid quickly filled his lungs, and he felt the darkness closing in around him. He desperately tried to stay awake, but the drug was quicker.

He heard the sound of keys jingling, and then, darkness took over him.

The Thrasher smiled sadistically. _Sweet revenge,_ he thought. _Sweet revenge. My plan is finally working. _

He pulled out the zip-ties and tied Hotch's wrists behind him, making sure that when he woke up, that he wouldn't try and escape.

The Thrasher gagged Hotch with a cloth and tied duct tape around his mouth so that he wouldn't be able to scream when he regained consciousness.

The unsub looked around to make sure that no one had seen what he had just done. He knew that kidnapping a federal agent was a huge felony. He would lose his badge, and probably be put in jail for the rest of his life.

He opened the trunk and shoved the unconscious Hotch inside. Then, the unsub quickly started the car, and dropped a note on the ground along with the agent's credentials, gun, cell phone GPS tracker, and car keys.

**~Unknown location, about a half hour later~**

Hotch slowly regained consciousness. His eyes adjusted to the bright light, and he noticed that there weren't any windows in his new prison.

His hands had been handcuffed above his head, and a cloth had been tied around his mouth.

His captor walked back into the room, but this time, he wasn't wearing his mask.

Hotch's eyes widened when he saw who The Thrasher really was.

"Surprised that I'm the one you've been looking for, Agent?" the unsub said, untying the cloth.

Hotch's eyes widened even more. It made him want to vomit when he realized who the unsub was.

It was Detective Rodriguez.

**TBC...**


	4. New Accomplice

"How...how are you The Thrasher?" Hotch asked, the handcuffs keeping him firmly in place. "You...you betrayed everyone. You betrayed your partner!"

"My parents died because of Agent Morgan. They were burnt to death right in front of me. Agent Rossi is also the cause of this because he believed that I was the unsub in a child abduction case. His wife's been gone for two years, what makes you think that he will ever get her back?"

"Rossi will find you. He will kill you and rescue his wife. Where is she?"

"Like I would ever tell you where she is. She's weak and emotionally scarred for life. You'll never find her."

If Hotch wasn't restrained, he would already have killed Rodriguez, or at least had him handcuffed. The profiler wondered if his team had noticed that he was missing.

"You're going to call your team and tell them who The Thrasher really is. You're going to read them this letter and tell them that they will not be searching for you," Rodriguez said. He pulled out a burner phone and dialed Rossi. While waiting for the profiler to pick up, The Thrasher pulled out a folded piece of paper and set it on a stand in front of Hotch. A gun was pulled out and touched the back of the Unit Chief's head.

Rossi answered the call.

"This is Agent Rossi," he said.

"Dave, it's me," Hotch replied, trying to sound convincing.

"Hotch! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Erin is alive. I know where she is."

"Where?"

"You'll have to meet me. Outside the police department, in 15 minutes."

"I'll be waiting."

The Thrasher ended the call, and placed a full syringe in Hotch's hands.

"You will do what I tell you to do, or I will hurt your team members. You wouldn't want anything to happen to them, would you?"

Hotch shook his head 'no,' then listened to what his abductor told him to do. And it would be the most horrific thing that he would ever have to do to his friend. He would never forgive himself.

**~Outside the PD~**

Rossi saw Hotch pull up into the parking lot 15 minutes later. The Unit Chief felt the syringe in his pocket and the gun and zip-ties in the other pocket. Hotch swallowed nervously, hoping that everything would go according to the plan that The Thrasher had told him.

"Hotch, are you sure that everything's ok?" Rossi asked once his friend had walked up to him.

"I'm fine, Rossi," he said quietly.

"Where is Erin?"

"That's what I was about to tell you, but there's something that you need to know first."

Before Dave could react, Hotch had whipped out his gun and pointed it at his best friend. "I'm so sorry, but this must be done."

"Hotch, what are you doing? Put the gun down."

"No. YOU listen to me. You are going to get in my car, and come with me. You don't deserve to know where your wife is," Hotch snapped angrily.

"Hotch, what's going on? You look as though you've been drugged."

"Shut up and get in the car before I end up shooting you. And this is fully loaded, so I wouldn't try anything funny."

Hotch had gotten Rossi halfway across the lot, when the Unit Chief suddenly heard a female voice calling his name.

"Hotch, wait!" It was JJ.

"Stand right where you are, Agent Jareau," he said. "I don't want to make this more difficult than it already is." His voice sounded harsher than usual.

"Hotch…" she said, her voice trailing off.

"Take your gun out and put it on the ground and kick it over to me."

JJ felt like the world had just cracked underneath her feet. She never thought that she would be looking straight into the betraying eyes of someone she knew and trusted.

The blond profiler slowly took her gun out and set it down on the ground. Then, she kicked it over to her boss, who immediately snatched up the weapon and tucked it away in his second gun belt.

"I don't want to hurt you, JJ, but I will if he doesn't come with me," Hotch said.

"Hotch, I want to help you. You're being forced to do this. Please let me help you."

The Unit Chief used his free hand to pull out two sets of zip-ties. "Agent Jareau, take these. Put one set on his wrists. Then, put the other one on yourself."

JJ obeyed, tying Rossi, then tying her wrists.

"You will let me do what I came to do or you're never going to see daylight again. If you speak one word of this to anyone, I promise that your friends will pay. They will get hurt."

Hotch forced Rossi to sit in the front seat, and then the Unit Chief got into the car and sped off with his hostage.

**~The Thrasher's house~ **

Rossi awoke to a slight pain in his neck. He had been tied to a chair and had a blindfold covering his eyes. Someone entered the room and pulled off the piece of fabric obstructing his vision.

Once his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he saw Hotch sitting in a leather chair, drinking coffee out of a mug. Another man walked into the room, a smile across his face.

"You...you work with him?" Rossi asked in astonishment. He couldn't believe that his best friend had betrayed him. How could the Unit Chief betray the BAU?

Rossi recognized the second man as Detective Rodriguez, the man who had been abducted a few days ago. The pieces finally connected.

The profiler looked over at Hotch. Rossi noticed that his co-worker was giving him a different look. One that seemed to say, _Help me. I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. _

"Try anything, Rossi, or I promise you that you will get to watch your wife die," Hotch sneered.

Rodriguez whispered something to Hotch, which Rossi was unable to hear. The Thrasher left the room, leaving the Unit Chief alone with his best friend.

Hotch made sure that Rodriguez wasn't going to be coming back into the room anytime soon. The Unit Chief needed to let his friend know what was going on.

"Rossi, I'm so sorry. I'll never forgive myself for this. I've been held hostage here by Rodriguez. He was the one who called you on your phone. He forced me to kidnap you and bring you to this place. He was using the team as leverage. He told me that if I didn't do what he said, then he would hurt Erin and the team. When he comes back, just know that if I'm acting like I was when I took you, I'm just playing Rodriguez. I've been trying to get help," Hotch said.

"My friend, I forgive you. But I'm sure JJ will understand when we get out of here," Rossi replied. Both men heard Rodriguez enter the room, and he was dragging a blond woman behind him. Her face was streaked with tears, and her clothes were torn and threadbare.

Hotch paled and looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"ERIN!" Rossi shouted.

TBC...


	5. Phone Call

"What have you done to her?" Rossi threatened the man who was still dragging Erin into the room.

"I did absolutely nothing. If you had just minded your own business like I told you to, then none of this would have had to happen. Mr. Hotchner never would have had to suffer for your mistakes. Now, you're going to call your friends and tell them that they will only get one of you back. Two of you will stay here and work for me. Take the deal, or each one of you gets a bullet in the head. Which would you prefer?" Detective Rodriguez said.

"I'll stay with Erin," Rossi said. "Hotch, you need to tell the team the truth. Please Hotch, let me stay."

"Ok," the Unit Chief replied.

"So, you made your decision, agents?"

"Yes," Rossi replied. "I will stay with my wife. We will work for you."

"Good choice."

Rodriguez pulled out Hotch's phone, with the GPS turned off, and dialed the Charleston PD.

Julie picked up the phone right away.

"Agent Hotchner, hello," she said.

"Hi, Julie, it's not Agent Hotchner," Rodriguez said.

"What...what...you were kidnapped."

"Nope. It was meant to look like I had been taken. I am The Thrasher. And now, I have three federal agents in my hand that I could kill any second. Please put Agent Morgan on the line."

Julie nervously and shakily handed the phone over to Morgan, who was very enraged.

He didn't even give the killer a hello. Instead, Morgan answered the phone with a, "Where are they, you little rascal!"

"Agent Morgan, that's not a very nice greeting to give to the person who currently holds your boss hostage. Along with his best friend and wife."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to know that you can only have one of them back. You can either have Rossi, Erin, or Hotch. Whoever you don't pick will be working for me until the end of time. It looks as though Rossi is sacrificing himself to be with his wife."

"We want all of them," Morgan snapped. "But we would like Hotch."

"Excellent choice, Agent Morgan. Mr. Hotchner will be returned within the hour. He will arrive at the police station within the next half hour."

~CriminalMinds~

***Outside the PD***

JJ and Reid walked outside with Morgan right behind them. Hotch walked towards them with his credentials in hand and his gun missing. Rodriguez had taken it after he had abducted him. But when the blond saw her boss, she stopped dead in her tracks. She remembered him pulling out the gun and forcing her to tie her wrists together.

"Morgan, Reid, don't move!" JJ said. "I got this."

Pulling out her gun, she pointed it at Hotch. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you."

"JJ, I'm sorry. Rodriguez threatened me. He said that if I didn't take Rossi, then he was going to go after you, Garcia, Reid, Morgan, Emily, Jessica, Sean, and Jack. I couldn't let that rascal hurt any of you," Hotch replied

She put her gun down and back into her holster.

"Let's go catch this creep and put him behind bars where he belongs," Morgan replied.

Emily started running after them, but Hotch told her that she needed to stay behind. The killer was targeting brunette women of any race or age, so she needed to stay in protective custody.

However, they did not know that Rodriguez's partner was already heading towards the fast-food restaurant where Emily and Julie would be grabbing lunch.

As soon as JJ, Hotch, Reid, and Morgan were out of sight, the partner pulled into the fast-food restaurant parking lot. He noticed that Julie was getting out of the car and walking into the restaurant, leaving his prey right in the open.

The partner left his car running, then hurried over to Julie's car. He knocked on her car door, and revealed a gun. A note was pulled out of his pocket and he showed it to her.

The note said: Get out of the car, leave your cell phone, credentials, and badge on the seat. If you don't obey, then I will kill you.

Emily nervously got out of the car, and followed the man over to his car, where she was handcuffed and gagged, then locked in the trunk. Julie, however, had just come out with the food when she saw Emily being locked into the trunk and the man heading up to the driver's seat. Julie pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the license plate, but was unable to get a photo of the driver. She tried to stop the car, but it was gone before she could do anything.

~CriminalMinds~

***Unknown location***

Emily awoke in a dark room, the window barely letting any sunlight in. Her wrists had been zip-tied to a chair's armrests. The cloth that the man had stuffed in her mouth when he took her was still preventing her from screaming for help.

The man came into the room, carrying a bottle of lemon juice. Emily began to panic when she saw her abductor coming towards her.

He pulled off a bandage on her arm that she received after getting into a fight with an unsub. The killer had cut her arm, and she was required to wear a bandage until the injury was almost healed.

Her abductor opened the bottle of lemon juice and started pouring the liquid across her cut, causing pain and a stinging sensation.

Her screams were muffled by the cloth, but if it hadn't been on, she would have screamed louder than she ever would have in her life.

"You want to speak to your Supervisor? Or, more specifically, your lover?" the man taunted, removing the cloth.

"I'm not in a relationship with my Superior," she replied.

"I know that you want to. I've been watching you for a long time and I've fallen in love with you. But unfortunately, you want to be with your boss. We must eliminate that option once and for all. That's why I'm letting you call your Supervisor. You will tell him how you feel, but that the only option is for you to transfer."

The man dialed Hotch, and then heard him shout a few seconds later, "You dirtbag, where is she?"

"Doing just fine," the partner replied. "But she has something to tell you. But before she does, I must ask you a question. What are your thoughts on office romances?"

"I don't really approve of them if they are amongst my team," Hotch said. "Why? Where is Emily? Let me talk to her."

"Well, I guess you just answered the question she's been dying to ask you."

"Office romances? She was going to ask me what I thought of romance in the workplace?"

"Yes. Emily, tell your boss what you've been wanting to tell him for a while now."

She waited patiently as the partner put the phone up to her ear.

"Hotch…" she began. The tears came faster than she wanted them to.

"Emily, were you going to ask me about office romance?" her Superior asked.

"Yes. It's because...I've fallen in love with you. I figure the only option is to transfer to another team. I'll go with Seaver."

"Emily...you don't have to go to another team. You can continue working for me, and we will keep this relationship a secret."

"Sir...relationship?"

"I love you, Emily."

"I love you too, Hotch."

"Well, that was one quick confession of love. I hope that you only do find her quickly. She won't be alive much longer."

"Touch one hair on her head and I will make sure that you spend the rest of your days behind a prison cell."

"Yeah right, like I would ever listen to you."

TBC...


	6. Arrest

Rodriguez ended the call and looked at Emily again. She was perfectly helpless, tied up and had no way of escaping him. He smiled sadistically, which scared her.

"You are the one I've been wanting for so long," he said. "But instead, your boss has been so protective that I couldn't get the chance to talk to you and get to know you. Now, I can do whatever I want to you."

"Hotch will find and kill you. He'll do whatever it takes to find me. He'll search the entire city until he locates you and rescues me."

"Yea, I don't really care. You'll be dead before he comes. Let's see how much he breaks down after he loses the one person he cares about most. I want to see him pay."

~CriminalMinds~

***Rodriguez's house***

Rossi and Strauss had been tied up to a bedpost before Rodriguez had left to abduct Emily. He would be coming back in 10 minutes, and Rossi was figuring out a way to escape the prison. However, they didn't know that Hotch had told the team where they were being held and were already on their way.

As Rossi began counting down the minutes until Rodriguez returned, he heard the sound of sirens outside the house. Car doors were being shut and the sound of footsteps running towards the front door were heard soon after.

"It's ok, Erin, they're here. We're going to get out of here," he said, trying to comfort his shaking wife.

The front door was kicked down and Rossi began shouting, "In here! In here!"

Hotch opened the door and untied them both, making sure that their weapons were recovered. The guns had been hidden a closet and inside a safe, to which only Hotch knew the combination.

After the two profilers received their guns, they began tracing Emily's phone.

"Rodriguez is an idiot; we just found Emily's phone using GPS. Let's go."

~CriminalMinds~

***Emily's Prison***

She sat tied to the chair, trying to figure out how to escape. But Rodriguez kept a close eye on her, and she was so terrified that she would never get out.

"I only hope that you will cooperate with me, otherwise I'm going to send your boss some lovely photos of you bleeding to death and begging for you to get him out of this place. He won't find you alive."

The door was kicked open and then the rest of the team entered the room.

"FBI, freeze," Hotch said, pointing his weapon at the unsub. "Let her go, or we'll shoot you."

"Not a chance," Rodriguez replied, putting a knife to her throat. "Put down your weapons, or I will slit her throat."

"It's over, Rodriguez. Put the knife down and let her go."

Emily stood up and shoved her chair against him, knocking him off balance. The knife clattered to the floor and Rossi walked over to The Thrasher and arrested.

"Detective Rodriguez, you are under arrest for murder and kidnapping three federal agents. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney."

Rossi led the unsub out to the police car sitting outside the house. Hotch untied Emily and pulled her into his arms after she broke down crying, scared that she wouldn't make it out of her prison alive.

"He can't hurt you anymore," Hotch said, kissing her forehead. He wrapped an arm around her and led her out to the SUVs. She had not been hurt in any way, so she did not need to go to the hospital.

Once they arrived back at the BAU, Hotch asked Emily if she wanted to go out on a date with him and she said yes.

~CriminalMinds~

***50 dates later, Rossi's backyard* **

Hotch stood in his best friend's backyard, dressed in his best suit and waited for the love of his life to join him. JJ, Reid, Morgan, Garcia, Rossi, and Strauss were all settled in their appropriate spots at the altar. Jessica Brooks, Jack, Sean Hotchner, Ambassador Prentiss and her husband were seated in the single row of seats. Emily walked down the aisle in a stunningly beautiful dress with a bouquet of roses in her hands. Her engagement ring sparkled in the sun, sitting perfectly on her right ring finger. It was her and Hotch's wedding day, exactly one year after he asked her out on a date. Rossi had offered to marry them.

Emily reached the end of the altar and Hotch took her hands in his.

The couple said their vows and gave each other the rings. Rossi pronounced them husband and wife, and Emily and Hotch headed out to the dance floor. They couldn't keep their eyes off of each other and as the wedding reception came to a close, the team reflected on their past year after The Thrasher had been caught and arrested. He would be in prison for the rest of his life without a chance of parole. Another deadly unsub was never going to hurt anyone ever again.

***THE END* **


End file.
